Even women prepared for the physical changes caused by pregnancy can be surprised by just how different their bodies look after having children. And the fact that working out and healthy eating habits can’t reverse some of those changes is frustrating. That’s one reason mommy makeover surgery at my Scottsdale-area practices is so popular.

Mommy makeover is a shorthand phrase for a combination of plastic surgery procedures designed to address the physical toll that pregnancy and breastfeeding can take on a woman’s body. The procedure usually includes a tummy tuck to create a flatter abdomen and cosmetic breast surgery to restore the breasts’ fuller, more youthful appearance. Breast augmentation or a breast lift, or both, may be suitable, along with other body contouring procedures, such as liposuction.

Even though certain procedures are commonly performed during a mommy makeover, the operation can be customized to include other cosmetic surgery options or nonsurgical treatments. I discuss a patient’s specific concerns during her consultation and create a surgical plan based on her goals.

One issue for women considering a mommy makeover is the timing of the procedure. That’s especially true for moms with infants or toddlers at home. These are factors that should be considered before scheduling a mommy makeover procedure:

Plans for more children

This is really the most important issue to consider before scheduling a mommy makeover. If you’re considering getting pregnant again within the next couple of years, I recommend waiting to get cosmetic surgery. Getting a tummy tuck or breast surgery doesn’t affect a woman’s ability to get pregnant, but the results of the surgery likely will be compromised.

If you’re finished having children but recently had a baby, you should wait 3 to 6 months before scheduling a mommy makeover to ensure you’re fully healed. Moms who breastfeed need to wait at least 3 months after they stop to allow hormone levels to return to normal levels.

Are you ready for recovery?

Chasing young children around the house or shuttling them to school, practices, or friends’ homes takes a lot of energy. Before deciding to get a mommy makeover, you’ll need to make sure that you have plenty of help lined up for the extended recovery that a mommy makeover requires. The benefit of combining procedures into a single operation is that patients only need to plan for one recovery period.

It’s important that you get the rest you need during the first couple of weeks and have someone handling chores and errands. Because you can’t lift anything heavier than 5 pounds after tummy tuck surgery, you won’t be able to lift young children for at least a week.

Do you plan to lose weight?

Many moms have a “target weight” that they want to reach after having a baby. Shedding weight through exercise and watching what you eat is a healthy approach and can also boost confidence. Women who are still on their weight-loss journeys are better off waiting until they’ve reached their target weight before getting a mommy makeover. That’s because continuing to lose weight after body contouring surgery can result in loose skin. Ideally, a mommy makeover patient maintains a relatively stable weight following the surgery.

The choice to get cosmetic surgery is one of the most personal decisions you can make. A mommy makeover can produce dramatic results, as you can see in our gallery of before-and-after photos featuring actual patients. It’s important to honestly assess your personal situation before choosing to get a mommy makeover.

If you’re considering a mommy makeover, or any of the surgeries that are typically a part of the procedure, scheduling a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon is the best place to start your journey. You can contact us using the online form or call our office in Paradise Valley at (480) 423-1973 or our office in Gilbert at (480) 466-7355 to schedule an appointment.

It is important to rest after any surgery, but for some surgeries, how you sleep is also important. When women have breast augmentation at my Scottsdale, AZ, practice, they often have concerns about sleeping after surgery. In this post, I will offer advice on how to sleep comfortably and cautiously after your procedure.

Sleep is very important after breast augmentation.

Sleep is essential to a healthy immune system and a speedier recovery. Your body has to work hard to heal from surgery, which is why you will likely find yourself feeling fatigued in the days following your breast augmentation. However, when we sleep, the body is still and can dedicate more blood flow to the injured muscles and tissues, delivering oxygen and nutrients to promote healing.

Additionally, sleep can play a part in our response to pain. According to this WebMD article, getting more sleep can help reduce the amount of pain you experience. Ideally, you should be trying to get 8 hours per night, and likely more when your body is healing.

How you sleep matters, too.

It is important to sleep on your back for a while after surgery. To reduce swelling, your upper body should be elevated, especially while you sleep. This helps minimize fluid buildup, enhances circulation, and also keeps the breasts in a more natural position as they heal.

Another reason to sleep with your body elevated is that it can help with mobility. Getting out of bed requires some upper body strength. During recovery, using your arm and chest muscles is not advised, and sleeping upright can ensure that you don’t need to reach or pull with your arms to get out of bed. Often patients sleep in recliners or use special pillows to ensure that they stay in the right position.

After several days, when swelling and bruising have gone down, you can usually sleep flat on your back if you feel comfortable doing so. However, it’s important that you don’t sleep on your side or roll onto your side in your sleep. This could put pressure on the implant or your incisions as you heal, which may affect your results. My patients can typically return to side sleeping (while wearing a supportive bra) within 2 weeks. Sleeping on your stomach is an absolute no-no until you get the green light from your surgeon.

Side and tummy sleepers should prepare early.

If you don’t normally sleep on your back, it may seem difficult to make the change. To prepare for surgery, it is a good idea to start training yourself to sleep on your back before your actual surgery date.

Use positioning pillows. Extra pillows in the bed can help you keep your body positioned correctly. Many people successfully sleep on their back by placing a pillow under each arm.

Keep a pillow under your knees to help maintain proper alignment of your back. This can also help for people who experience lower back discomfort.

Don’t quit. Always roll to your back when you catch yourself on your side or stomach.

Use a special pillow that will hold your head in place. This will prevent your head from rolling to one side and give you good support.

Once you are fully healed, you may return to whatever sleep position you like. However, continuing to sleep on your back has some benefits. This position can prevent neck and back pain because it keeps your head, neck, and spine in a neutral position. There is also some evidence that sleeping on your back is better for preventing the formation of lines and wrinkles.

A few more tips for sleeping comfortably after recovery…

Wear a supportive bra when you sleep. This will help hold your breasts in place, reduce tension on your incisions, reduce swelling, and enhance your recovery overall.

Take a warm shower (not a bath) in the evening. This is a proven technique for relaxation and getting to sleep faster.

Walk around regularly throughout the day; this helps with circulation and reduces the risk of developing blood clots. It also helps keep you from getting stiff and achy from too much immobility.

If you want to learn more about how to make your recovery as comfortable and quick as possible, check out our previous blog post that answers common questions regarding self-care after breast augmentation.

Breast augmentation patients at my Scottsdale-area practice often mention that although there’s plenty of information available on the Internet about what goes on during surgery, they’re more concerned about what happens before and after the procedure. In the spirit of patient education, I welcome these questions, and I understand that my patients have good reasons to ask. Breast augmentation, like any plastic surgery, requires some preparations and lifestyle adjustments to ensure a good outcome. To expand on the content found on my Breast Augmentation FAQ page, here’s a quick primer on what you can expect both before and after your surgery. The first step of breast augmentation is the initial consultation. Whether you’ve previously seen me for another procedure or you’re a brand-new patient, the consultation is an important appointment that allows me to fully get a sense of your concerns. To expedite the registration process, you can print out the necessary forms on our Patient Resources page and complete them at home. During this appointment, I go over the types of implants available at my practice. There’s no need to make a final decision about anything at the consultation. Instead, the purpose of this appointment is to help you determine if breast augmentation is right for you.

If you decide to proceed with surgery, my staff will assist you with scheduling your preoperative appointment and surgery day. I’ll provide you with detailed self-care instructions. If you’re a smoker, you should make every effort to kick the habit at least 4 weeks prior to surgery to reduce the risk of complications. You should also make sure you have plenty of loose, comfortable clothing to wear just after surgery, including button-down tops to eliminate the need to reach over your head. It’s also a good idea to arrange for extra help with errands, chores, and childcare for at least a few days after surgery. I advise my patients to have their prescriptions filled before surgery and ensure their refrigerators are stocked with nutritious, ready-to-eat meals that are low in salt to make it easy to stay well while their bodies heal.

After Surgery

For the first day following surgery, you’ll likely feel groggy and sore. This is normal, and you’ll start feeling like yourself as the anesthesia gradually wears off. Although it is very rare for patients to form blood clots when breast augmentation is the only procedure performed, it’s important to get up and walk around the house several times a day as you begin to feel up to it. Your prescription pain medicine will help you stay comfortable during this time, and most patients transition to over-the-counter pain relievers after only a few days. Your breasts will be bandaged in a surgical bra or band which you may leave on until your first follow-up visit, typically the day after surgery.

Most of my breast augmentation patients are back to light activities, including work, within a week. I recommend no heavy lifting or chest exercises for 6 weeks. Light exercise may be resumed 3 weeks after surgery. Over the next several months, your incisions will heal and begin to fade, and your implants will soften and drop to a more natural-looking position, revealing your ultimate results.

]]>https://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/breast-augmentation-what-to-expect/feed/0Breast augmentation before finishing having children? 3 reasons to schedule surgery and 3 reasons to hold offhttps://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/breast-augmentation-before-finishing-having-children-3-reasons-to-schedule-surgery-and-3-reasons-to-hold-off/
https://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/breast-augmentation-before-finishing-having-children-3-reasons-to-schedule-surgery-and-3-reasons-to-hold-off/#respondTue, 07 Jan 2014 06:19:50 +0000http://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/?p=95Continue reading →]]>This is probably the most common question I hear from women considering breast augmentation. Of course the answer will be different for each individual and it is not my place to push you in one direction or another but my hope is to inform you on what plastic surgeons know from previous studies and my own experience. In Scottsdale and the East Valley there are families with many children and often I see mothers who don’t want to wait until their 4th, 5th or even 6th child is born. We all know that pregnancy and breast feeding can have variable effects on breast tissue whether leading to flattening of the breast or breast ptosis (sagging). Because of this variability, even for the same individual pregnancy, there is no absolute way to predict what changes will occur with another pregnancy following breast augmentation. The most common worries I see when considering another child are: will I be able to breast feed and how will my breasts change after pregnancy or breast feeding?

Q. Will I be able to breast feed with a breast augmentation?

A. Many women in my own practice and in published literature are able to breast feed successfully following breast augmentation. Any operation on the breast does come with the possibility of affecting lactation especially when incisions are made around the nipple areolar complex (NAC). Peri-areolar incisions will disrupt some of the lactating glands so I typically recommend an infra-mammary or trans-axillary approach if my patient is very concerned about breast feeding. Some patients may find they need to supplement with formula although this is not uncommon with women who have not had any breast surgery as well. Theoretically an incision made below the breast or in the armpit does not disrupt any breast tissue as the implants are placed directly under the breast gland and usually under the pectoralis muscle.

Q. How will my breasts change with pregnancy? Will I need another surgery after breast feeding?

A. As I stated above, every woman’s breast changes differently with pregnancy and breast feeding. One patient’s skin may tighten up significantly following lactation to where there is minimal change while others may lose volume and develop breast sagging as well. More commonly I see smaller changes with smaller breasts but this isn’t always the case. Another factor to consider is weight gain with pregnancy or lactation. If a patient gains weight with or without pregnancy then loses the weight, breast sagging can be the result and a breast lift is an option for correction.

Most importantly, breast implants do not increase risk or pose any danger to infants breast feeding or pregnant mothers whether silicone or saline. Ultimately only you know when you are ready and you should not be pushed otherwise. I have many patients who decided they want their youthful body back now and are happy they did not wait while other patients who decided to wait until they are finished with children also are satisfied. Feel free to email or come for a consultation if you have any other concerns you would like to discuss. Below is a summary of reasons patients decide to proceed with breast augmentation and reasons to wait.

3 Reasons to proceed with breast augmentation

Better sex life according to a recent study from Brazil, specifically better arousal and satisfaction

Regain your youthful breast shape and better self image. Many woman get fit and feel great after pregnancy but unfortunately breast augmentation is the only way to restore breast size

Another pregnancy may not alter breast shape and many patients are still happy with the changes following birth. Breast implants have little if any affect on breast feeding.

May require formula supplementation, not sufficient evidence to say for sure

Breast feeding may be uncomfortable for some

Call for a consultation if you have further questions or post any comments below. 480.466.7355

]]>https://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/breast-augmentation-before-finishing-having-children-3-reasons-to-schedule-surgery-and-3-reasons-to-hold-off/feed/0Welcome to Advanced Plastic Surgery Institute’s Bloghttps://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/welcome-to-advanced-plastic-surgery-institutes-blog/
https://www.advancedplasticsurgeryinstitute.com/blog/welcome-to-advanced-plastic-surgery-institutes-blog/#respondThu, 05 Sep 2013 09:00:02 +0000http://dev74.etnainteractive.com/blog/?p=1Continue reading →]]>Coinciding with the opening of our practice in Gilbert, Arizona, and the launch of our new website, this is the first post on our new blog. Here’s a little bit of what you can expect from us in the future.

Stay Informed

Through regular posts, we’ll discuss a variety of topics to help keep you informed about the happenings in the field of cosmetic medicine, including information on:

The latest trends

Technological advancements

Industry-related news

New procedures we offer

Promotions and special offers at our practice

Beyond the Blog

At Advanced Plastic Surgery Institute, we offer a comfortable, respectful, private atmosphere in which you can explore your options for enhancing, restoring, or maintaining your beauty and youthful looks. We offer a wide range of cosmetic med spa and plastic surgery procedures, including tummy tuck, eyelid lift, facelift, rhinoplasty, and breast augmentation, for Scottsdale-area women and men.

You’re Invited

We invite you to check back frequently and join the conversation right here on our blog. We also invite you to visit us in our office to find out how we can help keep you looking and feeling young and confident.